Nathan Cone

VP, Cultural & Community Engagement

Nathan has been with the organization since 1995. He leads the organization's cultural and community engagement outreach and social media efforts. Nathan began at TPR working on classical music station KPAC 88.3 FM, as host of “Tuesday Night at the Opera.” He soon learned the ropes on KSTX 89.1 FM, and volunteered to work practically any shift that came his way, on either station. He worked in nearly every capacity on the radio before moving into Community Engagement, Marketing, and Digital Media. His reporting and criticism has been honored by the Houston Press Club and Texas Associated Press.

A native of Spring, Texas, Nathan began his broadcasting career while studying at San Antonio’s Trinity University, where he majored in Communication, with minors in Communication Management and Art/Art History. At Trinity University’s KRTU, he was a student manager, serving as Jazz Program Director and Operations Manager. Nathan graduated with a B.A. in Communication from Trinity University with minors in Communication Management and Art/Art History.

Currently, Nathan enjoys studying classic and contemporary films, especially Disney movies and those of the late director Stanley Kubrick. He's the curator of Texas Public Radio's popular summer film series, Cinema Tuesdays. He’s a musical omnivore, with a house full of classical, rock, and jazz compact discs and LPs. His favorite classical composer is Beethoven. His favorite jazz performer is Miles Davis, his favorite rock band is The Beatles, and his favorite film is Singin' in the Rain, which he enjoys watching with his wife and two children.

Ways to Connect

For over five decades, the Jim Cullum Jazz Band has kept the traditional jazz sound alive, playing the music of Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, and tunes from the Great American Songbook. You heard them on Texas Public Radio for 25 years as the stars of “Riverwalk Jazz,” and now Jim Cullum is hitting the airwaves again, this time with Doc Watkins in an intimate set recorded live at Jazz, TX on March 8, 2017.

Jazz, TX, the Pearl’s newest upscale music venue, and Texas Public Radio are partnering on a new broadcast series that’s airing during the month of April, celebrated nationwide as Jazz Appreciation Month. Tune in to TPR every Saturday night in April at 7:00 to hear Jazz, TX owner Doc Watkins and his Orchestra, along with special guests, interviews, and even a magic trick or two. Yes, we said magic tricks.

The San Antonio International Piano Competition is more than their every-three-years contest; in between the big event, they hold recitals and sponsor young artists to encourage the appreciation of piano music and repertoire. Younggun Kim, who received special recognition at the 2012 competition, was in San Antonio on February 25, 2017 for a recital on the University of the Incarnate Word campus that dazzled the audience.

In 2010, Beth May was teaching music at Alamo Colleges' Northwest Vista College and had some gifted students taking music theory. She wanted to encourage their budding interest in composition, but found that most all of the nationwide composer competitions were open to students of all skill levels, which could potentially pit community college students against a Ph.D. candidate. It wasn’t exactly a level playing field.